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Greece: Refugees

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the government of Greece to provide prompt and humane solutions for refugees currently living in Greece.

baroness williams of trafford: The Greek Government is responsible for ensuring the needs of refugees and migrants living in Greece are met. The UK Government is committed to supporting Greece’s efforts to manage migration effectively, which includes working with the Greek Government to support the most vulnerable.To meet the Government’s aim of enabling the most vulnerable unaccompanied children where it was in their best interest to relocate from Europe to the UK, in December 2018, the Government removed the date criterion in the Dubs Amendment; meaning that participating States such as Greece can now refer the most vulnerable children regardless of when they arrived into Europe.In addition, as per responses HL10488 and HL11028, we continue to provide expert staff to the EU Commission and the European Asylum Support Office teams in Greece and continue to provide interpreters to support the work of the Greek Reception and Identification Service to support Greece’s response in the island hotspots.

Ministry of Justice

Offences against Children

lord pearson of rannoch: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 17 November 2017 (HL2955), how many successful prosecutions there have been of police, social workers or other relevant authorities for failing to help the victims of grooming gangs.

lord keen of elie: The Ministry of Justice court proceeding database does not hold data specifically relating to different types of misconduct in a public office, nor the authority the defendant belongs to.

Prisoners' Release

lord trefgarne: To ask Her Majesty's Government in what circumstances Ministers may order the release of prisoners serving indefinite sentences for public protection without reference to the Parole Board; and how many prisoners have been so released during the last two years.

lord keen of elie: Prisoners serving indeterminate sentences, including those serving a sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP), may be considered for release on compassionate grounds, in exceptional circumstances, specifically where the prisoner is terminally ill, or bedbound or similarly incapacitated. Public protection is the priority, and a prisoner will not be released on compassionate grounds unless the risk of re-offending is minimal. One prisoner, serving an IPP sentence, has been released on compassionate grounds during the last two years. This figure has been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Catering

the earl of sandwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the possible impact of Brexit on the UK's food and catering industries; on what research they base their assessment; and what they forecast as being the net annual loss of European workers in this sector in each year from 2019 to 2025.

lord gardiner of kimble: It is a priority of this Government to enable an innovative, productive and competitive food supply chain, which invests in its people and skills. Defra is working closely with industry and other Government departments to understand labour demand and supply for the food and catering sectors, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements. The Government has been clear that free movement between the UK and EU will end. Defra is working closely with the Home Office to ensure that there is a long term strategy for the food and farming workforce as part of the future immigration policy, with a smooth transition as the UK leaves the EU. The Immigration White Paper, published on 19 December 2018, sets out the foundation for a single immigration system, where it is workers’ skills that matter, not where they come from. The Government has also made it clear that it will continue to welcome workers from the European Union who are already here in the UK and those who come here in the future who meet the immigration requirements. Defra is also working with industry to raise awareness of the career opportunities within the agriculture and food industry to attract domestic workers, and is exploring the potential for innovation and automation and their impact on future labour demands.